US6523747B1 - Apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records - Google Patents
Apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US6523747B1 US6523747B1 US09/403,528 US40352800A US6523747B1 US 6523747 B1 US6523747 B1 US 6523747B1 US 40352800 A US40352800 A US 40352800A US 6523747 B1 US6523747 B1 US 6523747B1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- read head
- coercivity
- magnetic records
- impedance
- inductive read
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
- G06K7/08—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
- G06K7/08—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes
- G06K7/082—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes using inductive or magnetic sensors
- G06K7/087—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes using inductive or magnetic sensors flux-sensitive, e.g. magnetic, detectors
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K19/00—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
- G06K19/06—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
- G06K19/08—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code using markings of different kinds or more than one marking of the same kind in the same record carrier, e.g. one marking being sensed by optical and the other by magnetic means
- G06K19/10—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code using markings of different kinds or more than one marking of the same kind in the same record carrier, e.g. one marking being sensed by optical and the other by magnetic means at least one kind of marking being used for authentication, e.g. of credit or identity cards
- G06K19/12—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code using markings of different kinds or more than one marking of the same kind in the same record carrier, e.g. one marking being sensed by optical and the other by magnetic means at least one kind of marking being used for authentication, e.g. of credit or identity cards the marking being sensed by magnetic means
Definitions
- This invention relates to apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records having a first coercivity, comprising an oscillator having an inductive read head which is coupled to a circuit arrangement.
- a known apparatus of this type is described in GB-A-2035659.
- This apparatus can read data from specially constructed magnetic tape consisting of aligned regions of acicular magnetic particles having a coercivity of the order of 300 oersteds (i.e. 24 kA/m).
- This magnetic tape is known by the trademark “WATERMARK”.
- “Watermark” tape being made from “soft” magnetic material, can have non permanent data recorded on it in addition to this permanent structure.
- One of the features of the active head circuit described in GB-A-2035659 is that it erases any “soft” data which might have been recorded on the tape. This feature is useful to prevent fraud using non-permanent recorded data.
- the acicular magnetic particles used in this tape are made from low coercivity (LoCo) material.
- HiCo high coercivity
- Such material typically has a coercivity of above about 1200 oersteds (i.e. 100 kA/m) and is described more fully in the standards document ISO 7811/6.
- the known read head described in GB-A-2035659 does not have a powerful enough magnetic field to erase data recorded on such high coercivity tape.
- the inventor has found that such high coercivity tape cannot be used fraudulently to counterfeit “Watermark” tape as the known read apparatus does not respond to erasable data on high coercivity magnetic tape.
- this is an advantage for the security of “Watermark” tape systems, it is a disadvantage for a general purpose magnetic reader apparatus because two different read heads or two separate read operations would be required if it was desired to read both types of data using the same apparatus.
- apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records having a first coercivity comprising an oscillator having an inductive read head which is coupled to a circuit arrangement, characterised in that at least one side of the read head sees an impedance which is larger than the impedance of the read head over the range of frequencies of interest such that the read head provides an electrical signal in response to magnetic records having a second coercivity which is higher than the first coercivity.
- This apparatus enables a single read head to be used to read both “Watermark” data and high coercivity data.
- the high coercivity data may be permanently structured or erasable.
- the electrical signal is derived from the voltage across the read head.
- This voltage is advantageously captured by a differential integrator which subtracts the voltages on either side of the read head to give a voltage difference, and integrates this difference over time.
- the range of frequencies of interest is conveniently lower than the frequency of operation of the oscillator. Preferably lower than 10 kHz, very preferably lower than 5 kHz.
- the invention relates particularly, though not exclusively, to high security magnetic data reader systems.
- FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a first embodiment according to the invention.
- FIG. 2 shows a part of the circuit of FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 3 shows a further part of the circuit of FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 4 shows a part of a second embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 1 shows a conventional “Watermark” tape read head 1 in an active oscillator including a comparator 2 and a resonant circuit comprising the read head and a capacitor 3 .
- the frequency of operation of the oscillator in watermark tape reading apparatus is typically 33 kHz, although higher or lower frequencies can be used if desired.
- the part of the circuit acting as an oscillator is shown separately in FIG. 2 for clarity.
- the apparatus also includes a frequency discrimination circuit 4 to obtain one or more signals associated with the frequency of the watermark data signal, and a peak detection circuit 5 to obtain one or more signals associated with the amplitude of the watermark data signal.
- the frequency and amplitude detection circuits are substantially as described in GB-A-2035659 or WO 94/02943 and so will not be described in detail here.
- a supply voltage (typically 8 volts) is supplied to terminal 20 of the comparator, and a voltage of 4 volts to terminal 21 .
- the resistors 6 and 7 both have the value 47 k ⁇ , while capacitors 3 , 8 and 9 all have the value 4.7 nF.
- the resonant voltage across capacitor 3 is about 60 volts peak to peak at a frequency of 33 kHz.
- the signal produced by reading data from a HiCo tape will typically be 10 millivolts peak to peak at a frequency of 1-3 kHz. The actual value of the frequency from the data on the HiCo tape will depend upon the speed at which the tape is fed past the head and the density of the recorded data.
- Typical data densities are of the order of 75 binary digits per inch or 3 binary digits per millimetre. Because the signal from the HiCo tape is small the oscillator part of the circuit should be designed to have low inherent noise.
- a low pass filter 11 is employed to attenuate the 33 kHz signal in the HiCo signal detection part of the circuit arrangement. In the present example it is a 4 pole Butterworth type having a 5 kHz cut-off point which enables a HiCo signal having a frequency of 1.5 kHz to be passed together with its second and third harmonic whilst still providing significant attenuation at 33 kHz.
- the signal from the HiCo tape is amplified by amplifier 10 , which is part of the detection part of the circuit.
- amplifier 10 This part of the circuit is shown separately in FIG. 3 for clarity. In FIG. 3 the topography has been redrawn to make it more clear that this part of the circuit operates as a differential integrator in the present embodiment.
- the oscillator part of the circuit arrangement shown in FIG. 2 drives a square wave voltage into the resonant circuit consisting of the inductive read head 1 and the capacitor 3 .
- the comparator 2 has a low output impedance. At resonance, the voltage across 3 lags the drive voltage from 2 by 90°. The combination of the capacitor 3 and the resistor 6 provide a further 90° phase lag. The inversion through the comparator provides the final 180° phase shift to bring the total to 360° as required for stable oscillation.
- Resistor 6 also provides low frequency negative feedback from output to input of the comparator, which stabilises when the average input voltage is half the supply voltage (i.e. 4 volts in the present example), thus ensuring that the signal from the oscillator has a 1:1 mark to space ratio.
- the voltage across the read head is detected as illustrated in FIG. 3 .
- This arrangement of components is known to be a differential integrator which subtracts the voltages from terminals on either side of the read head and integrates the difference over time.
- the integrator will saturate after a given time. To remedy this, a large capacitor should be added in series with resistor 7 and a large resistor in parallel with capacitor 9 . These two components have been omitted from FIG. 1 to improve clarity.
- resistor 6 and capacitor 8 which form part of the integrator of FIG. 3 are the same components which form part of the oscillator of FIG. 2 . Thus in the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1 they have a dual function.
- the detected signal amplitude and frequency from the read head described above are both proportional to the swipe speed.
- the integrator of FIG. 3, whose amplitude response is inversely proportional to frequency compensates for this, giving an output amplitude which is independent of swipe speed, thus making it easier to discriminate against the Watermark (33 kHz) component over a wide range of swipe speeds.
- the integrator and low pass filter described typically improve the ratio of HiCo to Watermark signals by 95 dB.
- the high impedance on one side of the read head is sufficiently high that the voltage appearing across the terminals of the read head is not degraded in operation so that it cannot be detected by the signal detection means.
- the impedance in practical systems is likely to be at least two or three times that of the read head, preferably greater than 5 times the impedance of the read head. If the impedance is low the signal will be attenuated and probably distorted.
- a second embodiment of the invention (having different component values) is shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4 .
- the impedance seen by both sides of the read head is larger than the impedance of the inductive head in the frequancy range of interest.
- the part of the circuit shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to that part of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 .
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Artificial Intelligence (AREA)
- Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
- Signal Processing For Digital Recording And Reproducing (AREA)
- Recording Or Reproducing By Magnetic Means (AREA)
- Digital Magnetic Recording (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims (7)
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB9708125A GB2324644B (en) | 1997-04-22 | 1997-04-22 | Apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records |
GB9708125 | 1997-04-22 | ||
PCT/GB1998/000993 WO1998048369A1 (en) | 1997-04-22 | 1998-04-03 | Apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US6523747B1 true US6523747B1 (en) | 2003-02-25 |
Family
ID=10811158
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/403,528 Expired - Fee Related US6523747B1 (en) | 1997-04-22 | 1998-04-03 | Apparatus for reading permanently structured magnetic records |
Country Status (11)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US6523747B1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP0976085B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2001521667A (en) |
KR (1) | KR20010012095A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1183471C (en) |
AU (1) | AU6926998A (en) |
DE (1) | DE69818244T2 (en) |
GB (1) | GB2324644B (en) |
HK (1) | HK1028123A1 (en) |
TW (1) | TW397973B (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998048369A1 (en) |
Citations (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3619570A (en) * | 1969-05-01 | 1971-11-09 | Int Research Dev Inc | Magnetic reading apparatus |
US3645392A (en) * | 1970-08-26 | 1972-02-29 | Ibm | Document sorting system |
US3956769A (en) * | 1974-08-12 | 1976-05-11 | Control Data Corporation | Recording system having coinciding servo and data tracks |
GB2035659A (en) * | 1978-11-11 | 1980-06-18 | Emi Ltd | Reading secure magnetic documents |
US4899037A (en) * | 1986-04-28 | 1990-02-06 | Eastman Kodak Company | Magnetic information-recording element and method of manufacture |
US4980782A (en) * | 1985-06-03 | 1990-12-25 | Peter Ginkel | Software protection and identification system |
US5196681A (en) * | 1989-11-23 | 1993-03-23 | Mantegazza Antonio Arti Grafiche S.R.L. | Magnetic ink medium and corresponding reading unit, and method for using same |
WO1994002943A1 (en) * | 1992-07-27 | 1994-02-03 | Central Research Laboratories Limited | Processing of recorded data |
US5480685A (en) * | 1993-10-22 | 1996-01-02 | Tomoegawa Paper Co., Ltd. | Method of making a magnetic recording medium comprising two magnetic layers |
US5867639A (en) * | 1992-03-20 | 1999-02-02 | Kiota International | Method for the recording and reading of a two-layer magnetic tape, and system of implementation |
US5920055A (en) * | 1996-03-08 | 1999-07-06 | Card Technology Corporation | Card transport mechanism and method of operation |
US6053406A (en) * | 1996-05-17 | 2000-04-25 | Aveka, Inc. | Antiforgery security system |
US6064276A (en) * | 1998-06-16 | 2000-05-16 | Microware Solutions Limited | Oscillator circuit |
US6073845A (en) * | 1995-12-19 | 2000-06-13 | Canon Denshi Kabushiki Kaisha | Recording medium on which information is recorded in intermittent pattern, and method of and apparatus for reproducing the information |
US6169461B1 (en) * | 1997-07-25 | 2001-01-02 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | High-frequency oscillating circuit |
US6189791B1 (en) * | 1997-09-19 | 2001-02-20 | Sankyo Seiki Mfg Co., Ltd. | Magnetic card reader and method for determining the coercive force of a magnetic card therein |
Family Cites Families (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB707667A (en) * | 1950-11-08 | 1954-04-21 | Prod Perfectone S A | Magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus |
GB782572A (en) * | 1954-06-01 | 1957-09-11 | British Broadcasting Corp | Improvements in and relating to reproduction from magnetic records |
GB840001A (en) * | 1957-06-21 | 1960-07-06 | W H Sanders Electronics Ltd | Improvements relating to equalization circuits for magnetic tape reproduction |
JP2743960B2 (en) * | 1986-02-17 | 1998-04-28 | 日本電信電話株式会社 | Magnetic card |
DE3930946A1 (en) * | 1988-10-25 | 1990-04-26 | Fuji Electric Co Ltd | Magnetic marking system for articles - has strip markings that pass through AC field to generate detector output |
US5293031A (en) * | 1991-03-18 | 1994-03-08 | Atsutoshi Goto | Magnetic bar code reading system employing phase-shift type sensor having plural sensing sections |
-
1997
- 1997-04-22 GB GB9708125A patent/GB2324644B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
1998
- 1998-04-03 KR KR1019997009770A patent/KR20010012095A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1998-04-03 JP JP54526198A patent/JP2001521667A/en not_active Ceased
- 1998-04-03 DE DE69818244T patent/DE69818244T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1998-04-03 US US09/403,528 patent/US6523747B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1998-04-03 WO PCT/GB1998/000993 patent/WO1998048369A1/en active IP Right Grant
- 1998-04-03 EP EP98914970A patent/EP0976085B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1998-04-03 CN CNB988044641A patent/CN1183471C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1998-04-03 AU AU69269/98A patent/AU6926998A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1998-04-22 TW TW087106160A patent/TW397973B/en active
-
2000
- 2000-11-17 HK HK00107350A patent/HK1028123A1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Patent Citations (17)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3619570A (en) * | 1969-05-01 | 1971-11-09 | Int Research Dev Inc | Magnetic reading apparatus |
US3645392A (en) * | 1970-08-26 | 1972-02-29 | Ibm | Document sorting system |
US3956769A (en) * | 1974-08-12 | 1976-05-11 | Control Data Corporation | Recording system having coinciding servo and data tracks |
GB2035659A (en) * | 1978-11-11 | 1980-06-18 | Emi Ltd | Reading secure magnetic documents |
US4980782A (en) * | 1985-06-03 | 1990-12-25 | Peter Ginkel | Software protection and identification system |
US4899037A (en) * | 1986-04-28 | 1990-02-06 | Eastman Kodak Company | Magnetic information-recording element and method of manufacture |
US5196681A (en) * | 1989-11-23 | 1993-03-23 | Mantegazza Antonio Arti Grafiche S.R.L. | Magnetic ink medium and corresponding reading unit, and method for using same |
US5867639A (en) * | 1992-03-20 | 1999-02-02 | Kiota International | Method for the recording and reading of a two-layer magnetic tape, and system of implementation |
WO1994002943A1 (en) * | 1992-07-27 | 1994-02-03 | Central Research Laboratories Limited | Processing of recorded data |
US5480685A (en) * | 1993-10-22 | 1996-01-02 | Tomoegawa Paper Co., Ltd. | Method of making a magnetic recording medium comprising two magnetic layers |
US5972438A (en) * | 1993-10-22 | 1999-10-26 | Tomoegawa Paper Co., Ltd. | Magnetic recording medium and method of manufacture of same |
US6073845A (en) * | 1995-12-19 | 2000-06-13 | Canon Denshi Kabushiki Kaisha | Recording medium on which information is recorded in intermittent pattern, and method of and apparatus for reproducing the information |
US5920055A (en) * | 1996-03-08 | 1999-07-06 | Card Technology Corporation | Card transport mechanism and method of operation |
US6053406A (en) * | 1996-05-17 | 2000-04-25 | Aveka, Inc. | Antiforgery security system |
US6169461B1 (en) * | 1997-07-25 | 2001-01-02 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | High-frequency oscillating circuit |
US6189791B1 (en) * | 1997-09-19 | 2001-02-20 | Sankyo Seiki Mfg Co., Ltd. | Magnetic card reader and method for determining the coercive force of a magnetic card therein |
US6064276A (en) * | 1998-06-16 | 2000-05-16 | Microware Solutions Limited | Oscillator circuit |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2324644A (en) | 1998-10-28 |
DE69818244D1 (en) | 2003-10-23 |
GB2324644B (en) | 2001-09-12 |
HK1028123A1 (en) | 2001-02-02 |
TW397973B (en) | 2000-07-11 |
EP0976085B1 (en) | 2003-09-17 |
EP0976085A1 (en) | 2000-02-02 |
AU6926998A (en) | 1998-11-13 |
CN1253645A (en) | 2000-05-17 |
KR20010012095A (en) | 2001-02-15 |
WO1998048369A1 (en) | 1998-10-29 |
JP2001521667A (en) | 2001-11-06 |
CN1183471C (en) | 2005-01-05 |
GB9708125D0 (en) | 1997-06-11 |
DE69818244T2 (en) | 2004-07-01 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: CENTRAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES LIMITED, ENGLAND Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:GREEN, IAN MACDONALD;REEL/FRAME:010666/0942 Effective date: 19991028 |
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Free format text: PAT HOLDER CLAIMS SMALL ENTITY STATUS, ENTITY STATUS SET TO SMALL (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: LTOS); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: SMALL ENTITY |
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Owner name: TSSI SYSTEMS LIMITED, UNITED KINGDOM Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:CENTRAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:016871/0308 Effective date: 20050531 |
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FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 4 |
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Year of fee payment: 8 |
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REMI | Maintenance fee reminder mailed | ||
LAPS | Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees | ||
STCH | Information on status: patent discontinuation |
Free format text: PATENT EXPIRED DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEES UNDER 37 CFR 1.362 |
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FP | Lapsed due to failure to pay maintenance fee |
Effective date: 20150225 |